Birmingham V Derby at St Andrews Stadium : Match Preview

31 January 2014 08:31

New arrivals Aaron Martin and Emyr Huws are in contention for their Birmingham debuts at home to high-flying Derby.

Defender Martin has penned a short-term deal while Huws has arrived from Manchester City on an initial month-long loan deal.

However, defender Kyle Bartley will play no part having been recalled from his loan spell by parent club Swansea after Tuesday's 2-1 defeat to leaders Leicester.

Mitch Hancox (ankle) will be assessed while captain Paul Robinson serves the second game of his two-match suspension. David Murphy, Matt Green, Neal Eardley (all knee), Jonathan Spector (thigh) and Akwasi Asante (hamstring) all remain sidelined.

Derby will have Jeff Hendrick back.

Hendrick missed the midweek win over Yeovil after an ankle injury forced him off during the draw at Blackburn last Saturday.

Rams head coach Steve McClaren will also have another central midfielder at his disposal against the Blues after signing George Thorne on loan from West Brom until the end of the season. However, Michael Keane's loan spell has ended and the centre-half has returned to Manchester United.

On-loan Chelsea forward Patrick Bamford will be hoping his second-half header against Yeovil will be enough to retain his place in the starting line-up, with both Jamie Ward and Johnny Russell pushing for starts.